The ocean affects all of our lives. Therefore, awareness of and information about the interconnections between humans and oceans are prerequisites to making sound decisions for the future. Project ORCA (Ocean Related Curriculum Activities) has developed interdisciplinary curriculum materials designed to meet the needs of students and teachers…

Four units focusing on 16 different Black scientists or inventors who have contributed to American life and research are presented. As part of an interdisciplinary high school science course, the units are designed to help students develop an understanding of and appreciation for the talents of the individuals studied, motivate minority students…

Abstracts of most of the papers presented at the 56th Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) have been collected in this publication. Papers focus on such areas as student and teacher characteristics, student and teacher attitudes, science curriculum, science instruction, preservice and inservice…

An understanding of classroom learning requires careful analyses of variables constituting the learning environment. Among those most likely influencing learning are verbal behaviors, since verbal interaction is the principal mode of communication in most classrooms. Thus, the quality of verbal interaction may directly affect the amount of…

The Basic Trilingual Program at Flushing High School in New York City is described in this report. As implemented in 1980-1981, the program aimed to help 250 Spanish- and Korean-speaking high school students (grades 9 through twelve) to make the transition to English by adopting a comprehensive instructional approach consisting of intensive…

The purpose of this study was to: (1) assess the reasoning levels of students using the Longeot Test; (2) compare the background of each student with the student's reasoning ability; and (3) identify which factors would best determine a student's reasoning level on the Longeot Test. The sample consisted of 636 students (336 females and 300 males)…

This paper is part of a paper set which addresses the potential contributions of teacher effectiveness research to science teacher education. The goal of the study is to assess selected research-based teaching and observation practices in combination with an effective staff development procedure in the context of science education. Two techniques,…

This report describes a 9-month project, conducted in seven states, during which teaching strategies and teacher attitudes which successfully encouraged girls in science were observed, described, and analyzed. Biology, taken by over 80 percent of high school students, was the course selected for observation; if girls are turned off to science in…

A study determined the degree of importance secondary vocational instructors place on students' possessing science skills for successful completion of their vocational program. It also determined the specific skills in biology, chemistry, and physics the instructors taught and identified the secondary vocational programs that require students to…

With increasing attention being given to the importance of microcomputers in the schools, there is concern about how new teachers can best be prepared to use the new technology effectively. This paper presents a perspective on teacher training based on three categories in which computers may be used in the classroom: to provide unique learning…

This document contains the full texts of plenary lectures presented at a conference which focused on developments in integrated science education (ISE), between 1968 and 1978, and on issues and new trends in science education in the 1980s and 1990s. These lectures include: (1) "Interaction of Science and Society" (J. C. Terlouw); (2) "A Review of…

This curriculum guide for elementary art education is divided into 21 parts. Following a preface and acknowledgements, the philosophy, framework, goals, and objectives of the art curriculum for Frederick County (Maryland) are outlined. Grade level course overviews and scope and sequence for art education in grades 1-5 are then presented. An…

Presented in nine separate chapters are nine studies involving the direct observation of science classrooms. Eight of the nine chapters are based on qualitative data collection techniques which typically aim for depth of insight and understanding. Studies included are: "Critical Barriers to the Understanding of Elementary Science: Learning…

Presented are abstracts and abstractors' analyses of nine studies related to curriculum and instruction. These studies focused on: (1) the status of environmental education in Kansas; (2) attitudes of Israeli students toward two versions of a curriculum titled Agriculture as Environmental Science; (3) interrelationships among teacher intentions,…

This paper reports a six month intervention program in two ninth grade science classes and one eleventh grade human biology class. One teacher, one researcher, and 64 students participated in this action research to improve student learning and attitude through training in metacognition. The researcher was a participant observer, who introduced…